Farmer Birthday Party!!!

It was so much fun!!! Where do I even begin? Camden was so excited to show each guest around the barnyard as they arrived. We had several stations for the kids: Milk the Cow, Duck Pond, Hay Stack, Bouncy Barn, Watermelon Patch (with seed-spitting contest), Bouncy Barn, and thanks to Waymon and Karla for the Tractor Rides and Bunny.

The day started with Shea leaving for a soccer game with Jackson and all the extended family (except for the sleeping birthday boy and Elaine who was the biggest help setting up).

Just as Shea was backing out of the garage, I noticed the freezer door had been opened all night. The ice on the top shelf had melted down all over everything! So Shea made an emergency run to get ice and ice cream on the way home from the game (and I shut the door and pretended there was not a mess in there until several days later!).

We had lots of friends and guests, including cousing Cooper and baby Reese, with Mac, Whitney and Brandon. Also Tom and Jackie, Kristen and Trish, and all the grandparents, and it was also our last visit with Ian before he moved back to Seattle.

LOTS of Cake, Ice Cream, and Presents later . . .

- "This farm stuff is hard work!" -

Camden turns 2!

I can't believe he's two! Two years ago . . . a week in the NICU and an unexpected ER visit, and he made his entrance into our lives. (I should have known then that he would like to choose the most interesting paths!) Such a sweet precious thing. And now such a big boy.

He's talking up a storm and is most excited about his farmer birthday. It's so cute when we hand someone an invitation and he says, "Come my farmer birthday?"

We're having a farmer birthday because he loves everything farm - animals, tractors, hats. He hops on his tractor in the backyard and says, "Me go work animals." So adorable.

We sang happy birthday this morning and gave a few little gifts. The excitement was when the candles kept melting inside the muffins!

Fiesta!!

Jackson had a Fiesta parade at Mother's Day Out. (Fiesta is a 2 week long celebration here in San Antonio. "Celebrating what?" you may ask. I'll have to get back to you on that one . . . ) We thought he had the most awesome dinosaur float ever! Unfortunately his excitement was quenched when his classmate told him that he had a better float than Jackson. It's so hard to see him get hurt by other kids - the beginning of much more to come, I'm sure.

Trip to Ozona

Shea headed off to Mexico to build a house, so the boys and I headed to Ozona for a long weekend. We were off to a rough start with Jackson having a bad ear infection, but he perked up enough. They both love different things in Ozona. Jackson loves all the different toys, books, and trips to Dollar General! Camden loves the clinic - the animals and tractor are second only to spending time with "Doc."

The favorite thing of all, though, is "busting eggs." The kids gather the eggs from the resident chickens and then get to throw them against the barn and bust them. They had so much fun the first day, my dad went and bought 18 more, hid them for an egg hunt, and had another day of egg bustin' for the kids. I can't imaging the smell around the barn the following couple of days!

Long lost cousin

We had a great night with my cousin Ian. I had not seen him in 13 years - so it was wonderful catching up. Too bad his stay here in San Antonio is coming to an end just when we were able to get together. He's headed back to Seattle to be a full-time youth minister. We'll miss you, Ian!

The things they say!

I have so many favorites, but here are just a few that I want to get in writing so I don't forget:

Camden:
- "Let Me See!" - he says this all the time! It's so cute!
- "No eat my popcorn! Eat Jackson's popcorn!" (he told me this as I reached for his bowl!)
- "Okey Dokey"

Jackson:
- When I asked him to try a walnut, "I like Wal-Mart, but I don't like walnuts!"
- Praying one night before bed, "Dear God, please don't let any bad men come in our house. But if they do come in, throw them up against a wall and rip their faces off!" (Where did he come up with that? Did I step out of the room for that part of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse?!)
- When listening to their music in the car - "Mommy, do you know why me and Camden are full of joy? Cause we love each other so much!" (This is my commandment: that you love one another that your joy may be full . . . )

Much joy . . .

Sick Boys

Well, the boys have been sick this week. Camden had a sore throat and fever. And as soon as it cleared up, Jackson came down with the same thing (but he has been much more sick than Camden). Shea took Jackson to the doctor Friday night and the throat culture was negative for strep, but they sent it to the lab and will let us know for sure on Monday. But the nurse told him that the best thing for sore throats is popsicles, Gatorade and Gogurts. So now I'm not sure he even wants to get better after the diet he's pulled off the last couple of days!

Along with the fever has come crazy dreams for Jackson. He woke up at 5:00 the other morning so mad at me. He said that I had asked him if he wanted any sausages (in his bed) and that I never brought them! He still insists that this was not a dream. It was so funny hearing him tell this to Shea on the monitor when he went up to see what he was so hysterical about. Shea said, "Your mom didn't bring your Skittles?" To which Jackson exclaimed: "NOOO - Sausages!!" And Shea replied, "I'm sorry, it sounded like you said sausages." "Yes! Sausages! She said she would bring me some and she never did!!"

Unfortanely for Big 'Un and Nana, they weren't able to see Jackson play in a soccer game this weekend. Shea left for the game all alone on Saturday morning to coach, while Jackson, Camden, the grandparents and I all stayed home and watched the Bee Movie and recuperated from the sleepless, sick night. I think they had a good visit, regardless. We enjoyed having them here. Elaine was so sweet to help me in the yard and Big 'Un got in a little tee ball with the boys. We are so blessed that our children have such wonderful grandparents. We even got to see Nanny P (or "P" as Camden calls her) for a short while. Her arthritis has her in a lot of pain most of the time. It was nice to see her out - Camden loved stealing her french fries and dipping them in her gravy at lunch (and she loved it, too!). We'll have to remember to get a picture of that next time.

First Goal!!!

Jackson scored his first goal today!! He was the star defender and after stopping a goal, he took the ball down and scored himself a goal! We were so proud (I cried!).

After a long season of no wins in the fall, the "Fireflies" won 9-2 today.

Poor Camden desparately tried to join the game. Here are a few more pics:

God is Great. God is Good.

Here is the cutest picture from dinner tonight - Camden eating while Jackson sweetly says a prayer (and Mommy snaps a picture). The boys both say their own prayer for us before dinner. Jackson's is usually "God is great, God is good . . . " Camden's prayer always goes like this, "God . . . . . food . . . . . Amen!"

Nightly, we start our chairs at even intervals around our round table. At some point, Camden always pushes his chair up next to someone else. Tonight, Jackson did the same, so Shea, Camden and Jackson were all sitting right together (leaving me all alone across from them - which gave me the perfect opportunity to get a picture!).

And the sandbox - the boys favorite pasttime. They enjoyed having their Daddy bury their legs together.